Piper PA-32-300 N55629

Summary

On 28 September 1997 at about 17:45 local time, a Piper PA-32-300 registered N55629 was involved in an accident near Stuart Island, Washington, United States. 3 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

28 September 1997 at 17:45

Classification

Accident

Location

Stuart Island, Washington, United States

Nearest airport

Stuart Island Gast (7WA5)

Coordinates

48.5291, -123.0604

Aircraft

Piper PA-32-300

Registration

N55629

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Toledo → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

SEA97LA220

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's improper decision to land on a wet grass runway with a ten knot tailwind. Factors were the wet runway surface and tailwind.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot elected to land on the 2,100-foot long grass runway with a tailwind of about 10 knots. After the aircraft passed the middle of the runway, the pilot realized that the aircraft would not stop in the remaining distance. Knowing that there was a downhill overrun that ended in the water, as the aircraft neared the end of the runway, the pilot elected to turn off the runway onto up-sloping terrain covered by tall grass. While rolling through the tall grass, the aircraft encountered a drainage ditch, resulting in the collapse of the nose gear and one main gear.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.